The Homo Novus Experimentation
by danakate
Summary: Penny/Sheldon - Penny tries to utilize the scientific method to try to seduce Sheldon for a bet. In the end, they both learn a lot about each other and themselves and the outcome is surprising for all.
1. Chapter 1

**Warnings:** General show spoilers for all 3 seasons. Slightly AU (see note, which itself is a slight spoiler for Season 3).  
**Word Count:** 17,000

Originally written for "The Big Bang Theory" big bang challenge from September 2010…I'm not sure why I never posted it here.

* * *

Notes: Penny and Leonard never got together, never even went on the early dates. Most everything else happened, although maybe in a slightly different way.

* * *

It starts at the Chancellor's Award ceremony.

Penny's sitting at the table, alternately feeling sorry for Leonard as he's rambling about his failed childhood science project and for herself because she's at a science award dinner with the guys instead of with her girl friends like she usually is on a weekend night. But the food is good and it's free and if she's really honest with herself, it'll be kind of nice seeing Sheldon up on that stage in the awesome suit she picked out for him.

Sheldon's a ball of nerves to her left and while Leonard's talking, she has to put a hand on his arm to keep him from vibrating the dinnerware off the table. The fact that he doesn't flinch is a testament to how nervous he is. Penny moves the wine away from him because, really, she's known all of them long enough to know they're truly lousy drunks. Sheldon's barely tolerable when he's sober much less tipsy.

She's coaching him through the stage fright, distracting him with quiet inane chatter in his ear so he can't think about it while Leonard keeps talking and _would he just stop talking about his science project and mother issues already?_

Finally, Leonard yields the stage to Sheldon and Penny's quietly proud she doesn't actually have to drag the poor guy up the steps herself. She watches, holding her breath, as he puts his hands on the podium and stares out at the crowd and up into the bright lights.

He's silent for an unnaturally long time and just when Penny thinks he's going to faint, he takes a deep breath and starts talking.

And, really, it's not that bad. Sure, he manages to piss off just about every department at the university _including_ his own, but it's Sheldon and he's also able to begrudgingly thank those who (finally) acknowledged his brilliance (after all this time).

Penny's pretty sure she's imagining hearing the words "think of the science" muttered by a few people sitting at the table behind her. Mostly it's because those are the words going through her mind.

These days, when Sheldon goes off on one of his physics tirades, she really does pay attention. Penny's looked up enough things to have a loose grasp-a _very_ loose grasp-of fundamental physics. Which, of course, doesn't exactly help her when he's talking string theory. But it's a start and it's what she'd wanted and it's what he'd taught her. So she pays attention and she picks up on key words and she really, really could have used this skill in college but anyway.

Sheldon's aware enough to know that his audience, while mostly scientists and those associated with science, aren't physicists and tailors the recounting of his scientific exploits to a slightly lower level than normal. He's the only person Penny knows who can both insult one's intelligence and blow right past the furthest reaches of one's understanding in twenty words or less.

By the end of the night, Penny's mental list of things to look up later is pretty big and she's sure she'll forget half of it by the time they get home. (But that's the beauty of Wikipedia, she knows, since she's stayed up way too late on many nights clicking on all the damn links.)

And while Penny now has a greater appreciation of the sciences and for what the guys do, it's Leonard who really kicks off her thought processes into the weirdest direction they've ever gone.

Leonard's still grumbling about the lima bean project on the ride home and Penny's trying really, really hard not to laugh since she's sitting in the passenger seat-thus, the easiest to see, even if she turns to the window-while he drives. She barely manages and, luckily, Leonard is too preoccupied with driving and his own woes to realize the grimace plastered on her face is really Penny trying desperately not to laugh and not the compassion he so desperately wants.

Other than giving her an excuse to (silently) laugh harder than she has in a really long time, the conversation also starts a thought reaction in her mind and she can't get rid of it.

See, when she was in elementary school, she had to do a science fair. Science wasn't big in the Midwest, but they were trying, so every kid had to do something. Penny remembers going home with the assignment and wailing at her father's knee because she had no idea what to do.

At the time, her relationship with her father was still good. He'd picked her up, thumbed the baseball cap on her head, and said, "Slugger, let me tell you about corn and genetics."

It was one of the best times she'd had with her father and the first time she'd learned about the scientific method and put it to use. She won first prize.

Fast forward a decade or so and Penny doesn't really have a use for the scientific method anymore, but Leonard's nostalgia is poking her in the brain for no discernible reason.

The combination of hanging around the boys for a few years, seeing Sheldon in a really good suit, and generally inhaling science on a daily basis shifts Penny's brain into a different kind of orbit.

She starts having strange dreams. More than once Penny wakes up thinking about whiteboards and bosons and quarks and beakers. She has an inexplicable urge to watch the Muppets those mornings.

She starts thinking of weird projects. Really, they're Sheldon's projects. Penny's watched enough science fiction with the guys that she starts wondering if maybe they really could build that brain scrambling device with the right frequencies and _what the hell?_

And then one day, it all comes to a head and her brain deposits the most preposterous idea ever: Is _homo novus_ susceptible to romance?

Penny falls out of bed the morning that idea presents itself just as she's waking up. She's laughing so hard at the idea she's surprised she hasn't smacked her head against something. To be honest, she thought she _had_ hit her head to evoke that kind of thought.

It's dumb and it's silly and it's _Sheldon_ but the thought stays.

And it won't leave.

* * *

A couple days later, Sheldon realizes there's something going on with Penny. At first he dismisses it, after all she's always been a little bit of a wild card and it's taken years to train himself not to be too perturbed by her sometimes unpredictable behavior. But then he notices...things.

He swears she giggles every time she looks at him.

And, the most disturbing of all, he is almost positive she's staring at him when he's turned away.

This goes on for a couple days before he finally has enough.

Penny is sitting on the couch, flipping through a magazine. Sheldon's pretty sure she's not really reading it but her hands still when he speaks.

"Penny, why do you keep laughing when you look at me?" he blurts.

"What?"

Sheldon furrows his brow. Maybe he's misreading her. Body language isn't his forte, but...

"I'm fairly certain you are laughing at me," he tries again.

They stare for a moment and, just as he suspected, Penny's lips twitch and soon she's grinning at him.

"I'm sorry, Sheldon, I just had a very weird idea about you that came up in a dream a while ago."

She's biting her lip now and he can see her shoulders shake as she tries, and fails, to suppress more laughter. He frowns further.

"I assure you any nocturnal fantasies involving you and I are no laughing matter," Sheldon admonishes.

And then she's outright laughing, perilously close to leaning on his spot.

"No, no, it's nothing like that," Penny manages, righting her posture. Sheldon tries not to twitch as her hand rests upon his cushion. "Well, not really. I just...had an idea. A question, really."

He frowns at her more and then turns back to his laptop. He has, after all, important work to do.

Right now.

If he can remember what he is working on.

But Penny has distracted him and now he can't concentrate. Sheldon turns back to her.

They stare at each other again and he swears she issues a silent challenge to him with her eyes as one slender eyebrow arches just slightly.

"I admit that my curiosity is piqued," he finally says.

Penny's eyes go up towards the ceiling and off to the right. They stop moving, then, but Sheldon's pretty sure she was going to do a full eye roll. He narrows his eyes when she doesn't respond.

"Tell me."

"I don't know if I want to."

"Very well."

Sheldon turns back to his laptop once more and furiously tries to ignore her. Except he can't because he knows she's staring at him.

A minute ticks by and neither of them speak or move. He doesn't hear the pages of her magazine flip.

Slowly, he turns all the way around in his seat and she is, as he suspected, staring at him.

And then she bursts out laughing.

"Okay, okay. For some reason, my brain decided to ask me if it was possible to seduce _homo novus_."

It's Sheldon's turn to raise his eyebrows and he's the one staring at her for almost a full minute before he speaks.

"Well, if that's all," he exclaims, relief in his voice. He readjusts his posture into "lecture mode". "Being _homo novus_, I have some experience in this matter and can say with certainty that the answer is 'no'."

Rather than gaining acceptance for his answer, though, Sheldon is perplexed when Penny makes a face at him. He starts to get a little alarmed when she rises from the couch and approaches him slowly. If he were to apply a metaphor, Sheldon would say Penny is stalking towards him like a tiger with prey in its sights. She stops a few feet in front of him and he visibly relaxes.

"Care to make a wager?" she asks, hands on her hips.

"I beg your pardon?" He stands so she's not looking down at him.

Penny shakes her head and scoffs. "I will bet you, Sheldon Cooper, that _homo novus_ can, indeed, be seduced."

Unconsciously, Sheldon steps back, his arms crossing defensively in front of him.

He is both wary and curious and he berates himself for being drawn into Penny's inane thought. "By what method are you going to use to attempt to prove this preposterous theory of yours?"

Penny chews on her lip for a moment and says, "The scientific method."

He was prepared to dismiss her bet, certain she'd use some brute force method or other unsubstantiated means but this...this was different. This was _science_.

Sheldon takes a step forward. "What's the wager?"

Penny crosses her arms to match him and also steps forward. "If I win, I get to sit in your spot for a week."

Sheldon moves again, and now they're toe-to-toe. "If I win, you have to drive me wherever I want, whenever I want-outside of your working hours, of course-for a week."

There is silence between them for a long beat.

"Deal."

"Deal."

Penny spins on her heel and stalks out of the apartment, door slamming behind her.

Sheldon, meanwhile, is still standing exactly where he was and, having seen the determination in Penny's eyes, starts having slight misgivings.

* * *

Leonard is walking up the steps when Penny steps out of the apartment.

"Oh, hey, Penny," he greets.

"Hey, Leonard," she says as she blows right past him and into her apartment.

Perplexed, Leonard looks after her and stares as she starts throwing items around in her living room. He stands just outside the open front door and observes for a while.

"So...whatcha doin'?" he asks, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"What?" Penny asks, whirling around. "Oh. Nothing. It's stupid. No, you know what? This is perfect!"

She barrels towards him, then, and Leonard takes a step back. Penny grabs his arm and leans in.

"Leonard, I need your help," she pleads. "You're my only hope."

Leonard's face contorts like this: confusion, hope, confusion, mild glee at the _Star Wars_ reference , and back to confusion.

"With what?" he asks slowly.

"You probably know Sheldon the best out of all the guys, right?"

He nods, still not quite understanding where the conversation is going.

"I need you to help me seduce him."

Silence.

If a pin dropped, any noise it made would have been completely absorbed by the sudden vacuum of sound that appears in the room.

"_**What?**_"

Penny blinks and then starts laughing and smacks her palm to her forehead.

"Oh! Sorry...sorry. I forgot you weren't there when this all started. Come in, come in. I don't want him to overhear my plans," she explains, tugging him into her apartment and shutting the door.

Leonard is still reeling and he wonders if he's having a nightmare. And it doesn't get better because Penny's trying to explain everything to him and he wonders if somehow she body swapped with Sheldon because he's pretty sure he's _never_ heard Penny even make a fraction of a comment like the string of words she's saying right now that sound a whole lot like one of Sheldon's scientific tirades.

"And he was just so...so..._arrogant_ and...and..."

Leonard's brain finally catches up.

"And so...Sheldon?" he suggests.

"Yes!" Penny exclaims, grabbing onto his arm again. "And you know him the best so you can offer some, I don't know, information or, you know, insight."

He's staring at her now and he starts to squirm under her gaze because she looks so expectant and beautiful and it should make him happy, because, see, Leonard's had this hope that if Penny improved her education and was more interested in science, she would be the absolute _perfect_ girl for him. It's not that she's stupid, far from it, she just has a different set of topics she knows well and that don't really mesh with his interests.

But there's something else going on. Leonard''s used to losing to the non-geek. He's used to having the pretty girl smile over his shoulder to the jock behind him or whatever other stud is in the vicinity. Leonard's height, or lack thereof, never helped in those situations. But this? This is totally different.

Of all the guys Penny could be focused on _other_ than him, it has to be Sheldon. And, if he's perfectly honest with himself, it makes him a little bit mad.

"You want me," Leonard starts, "to help you seduce Sheldon?"

Penny nods, a hopeful smile still on her lips, and Leonard's already trodden heart gets one more footprint-or high heel-in it. He likes to think he's not a bad person but right now he just can't be the good guy.

"No."

Leonard spins on his heel and quietly walks out of Penny's apartment.

* * *

Sheldon's not within sight when Leonard enters their apartment and for that he's glad. He's not sure how he would react to Sheldon at that moment.

To be fair, it wasn't the taller physicist's fault. Sheldon was infuriatingly stubborn and often downright crazy (despite protests that he'd been tested to the contrary) but there was something about him that pulled people in. It's as if Sheldon's personal gravitational field overcompensated for the fact that he didn't have any social skills. Thus, when a person is sucked into Sheldon's universe, they tend to stay, whether they want to or not. It's the only reason Leonard can think of for why he's stayed roommates with the man for over 7 years.

Leonard mopes around in the living room for a while before stalking to his bedroom and flopping on his bed. He lays there, glasses askew on his face, for long, quiet minutes. He just can't get over Penny's absurd request. What in the world would possess her to attempt to pursue Sheldon, the most un-pursuable man in the world?

* * *

Penny doesn't get any sleep that night. She's disappointed and a little mad at Leonard for not helping her, but she has work to do. After Google searching for a few things and consulting Wikipedia, she compiles a list of supplies and heads off to the 24 hour drug store to get everything she can. The rest will have to wait until the next day but there are certain items she needs immediately.

She also picks up a few more composition notebooks, deciding she needs at least one per phase of the scientific method. Penny doesn't want to screw this up.

As the night turns to morning, she digs through her e-mail from a couple years ago and finds the link to Sheldon's Google calendar. Penny notes the first appointment of the day, does a little mental math, and stuffs some essential items in a Hello Kitty tote bag before grabbing her emergency key and heading to the guys' apartment.

Quietly, she sneaks into the other apartment and into Sheldon's bedroom. There, she carefully extracts her supplies, sets them up to be accessible, then waits.

* * *

Sheldon Cooper is a creature of habit. He wakes up at the same time everyday to begin his morning routine. He looks forward to it because, to him, it is a constant.

When Sheldon wakes up this day, he feels comfort in the unalterable routine for approximately 370 milliseconds before it all changes and everything else is shot to hell.

He barely has time to register that his alarm has gone off before a hand is on his chin and a stick is forced into his mouth.

Sheldon struggles, but the grip is strong, and it isn't until his eyes focus on his assailant that he stops moving, mostly out of shock. He's finally able to pull away and he spits out the foreign object in his mouth.

"Penny?"

"Hold still, Sheldon," she admonishes, retrieving the fallen object. It's a thermometer, he sees, and she attempts to redirect it to his mouth.

Sheldon clamps a hand over his mouth and shakes his head.

"Come on, Sheldon, this is for science," she pleads.

He moves his hand away from his mouth just far enough to speak. "It's dirty, now."

Penny huffs and reaches into the bag by her side. She pulls out a small container and shows it to him. It's a box of sterile, disposable thermometer covers.

"Is this really necessary?" Sheldon complains, trying to inch away from her. Unfortunately, he's rather restricted by his covers.

"The second step is observation, Sheldon." She's put a thermometer cover on and is reaching for his face again.

Sheldon frowns. "This is intrusion, Penny. People can't be in my room."

"Science, Sheldon," she reiterates, getting on her knees on his bed and trying to catch his face.

Sheldon manages to squirm out of his covers and scrambles out of bed, backing up to the far corner of his room.

"Sheldon!"

"I fail to see why you must invade my person for your experiment, Penny." His eyes are bouncing around the room fast, looking for an escape route.

Penny is off the bed now and approaching him. Sheldon feels oddly like prey again.

"Well, I need a baseline," she starts, waving the thermometer at him. "Open up!"

He starts to protest again but Penny's hand shoots up and clamps on his chin, forcing his mouth open. She sticks the thermometer in his mouth and shuts his mouth. Sheldon struggles more but Penny's having none of it.

"Just a few seconds, Sheldon, that's all I need for this!"

Sure enough, the thermometer beeps and Penny extracts it, reading the value. She releases him abruptly, hopping back on his bed to root around in her bag. Penny pulls out a notebook and writes something down.

Sheldon is still observing her with trepidation when she finishes and she looks up at him.

"Well?"

"What?"

"I need to take your blood pressure, now," she says, pulling out a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope.

"Absolutely not."

Penny eyes him, then consults her notebook. "One of the signs of physical arousal is a sudden change in blood pressure," she recites. "How am I supposed to know if you have a sudden change in blood pressure if I don't know what your blood pressure is normally?"

Sheldon's mouth moves but no words come out. Clearly, his cognitive functions are not at their best this early in the morning.

"Penny, since you have disrupted my morning routine, any readings you take right now will be worthless."

There. That should do it.

Except it doesn't.

Penny shrugs and points to the bed. "Sit down. I haven't done this before so I need practice anyway."

Sheldon balks, trying to back into the wall.

Penny blinks at him and sets her shoulders. "Don't make me hogtie you."

A beat passes and then Sheldon's shoulders droop. He hangs his head, defeated, and makes his way to the bed, sitting on the edge.

Of course, things still don't go smoothly.

"I don't think that is the proper placement for the sphygmomanometer, Penny."

"The what?"

"… Blood pressure cuff."

"Oh. Well, it would help if you would hold still, Sheldon."

"Ow."

"You're such a baby, I haven't even started."

"I think that is sufficient inflate—OW."

"There! Done!"

"I think you've bruised me, Penny."

Penny, preoccupied with stuffing all of her materials back in her tote bag, levels a look on him.

"If you put up this much of a fight in future measurements, bruises will be the least of your worries, Sheldon."

Before he can respond, she's off his bed, out of his room, and he can hear the slam of the front door.

Rubbing his arm, Sheldon attempts to process what just happened.

* * *

The rest of the day goes no better.

Sheldon spends the morning working through some incomplete correlation theorems the international physics community is requesting input on and is tapping a finger on the cap of a dry-erase marker when the door to his office bursts open and Penny bustles in.

"Penny? What are you doing here?"

He quickly moves behind his desk, relatively safe for the moment, while Penny surveys his office.

"Nice place. Midday measurements. I don't think I've seen it before. Let's get started."

Sheldon is momentarily at a loss for words as he attempts to decipher her disconnected thoughts. He jumps when she starts moving around the desk towards him, thermometer in hand. He mirrors her movements, keeping the desk between them.

"Penny, this is completely unacceptable."

"I've already explained this before, Sheldon," she says before trying to outmaneuver him.

Sheldon finds himself cornered, a dry-erase marker his only weapon. For the moment, it keeps her just a little more than an arm's length away as he wields it like a weapon, pressing the cap against her left shoulder.

"_No_. This time you have gone too far, intruding on my work place."

For a long moment, Sheldon thinks his display of assertion is working until he notices the smile slowly spreading on Penny's features.

With no warning, Penny is suddenly up in his face and Sheldon finds himself craning his neck at an odd angle so as to avoid physical contact.

"Really?" Penny says, but Sheldon notes an odd timbre to her voice and wonders if there's something wrong with her. "And what are you going to do about it?"

He runs through the possible reasons her behavior could have changed and starts to panic. "Are you ill?"

Penny blinks and a look of confusion crosses her features. "What?"

"Your behavior is quite erratic and the change in your voice suggests a physical ailment," Sheldon reasons.

Penny blinks, then steps back, laughing to herself.

"Well, what's this?" a voice oozes from the doorway.

Sheldon frowns when he sees Howard, Raj, and Leonard loitering on the threshold to his office. Howard's eyes are flicking between he and Penny, no doubt thinking up a million fantasies a second. Raj claps a hand over his mouth and then leans over to frantically whisper in Wolowitz's ear. Leonard just stares, agape, the furrow between his eyebrows quickly becoming a full on crevasse.

"An afternoon tryst, perhaps?" Howard suggests, waggling his eyebrows. Raj snickers beside him.

Annoyed, Sheldon opens his mouth to respond, but Penny beats him to it.

"And what if it is?" Penny asks, stalking towards Howard, the thermometer gripped in her hand.

"What? No. Wait. You can't be serious," he blabbers, flustered.

"Don't be ridiculous," Sheldon breaks into the conversation, voice a couple octaves higher than he'd intended. "Penny was just leaving."

"Not until I get my measurements," she protests, pointing the thermometer at him.

"Measurements, hmm?" Howard drawls. He saunters into the office, his hips thrusting forward suggestively. "You can measure me anytime."

Penny narrows her eyes and turns to face Howard, the thermometer still pointing at Sheldon.

"Sheldon, put this in your mouth now before I decide to stick it somewhere else for a reading."

She lets go of the thermometer and Sheldon is slightly amazed to find that he's actually taken it from her. He puts the offending item, with a new sterile cover on it, into his mouth while Penny stalks towards Wolowitz.

"For your information," Penny says, pointing a finger at Howard but stopping short of actually touching him, "I am conducting a serious experiment here."

"Hey, hey," he says, backpedaling both literally and figuratively. "I was just kidding. And, in any case, what experi-"

Wolowitz's reply is cut short by the door slamming in his face, a shocked Raj and Leonard witnessing the whole ordeal.

Sheldon's ready when Penny turns around. He holds a piece of paper in front of her face. While she was dealing with Wolowitz, he'd had time not only to take his temperature but his blood pressure as well.

"What? Oh! Thanks!"

She's beaming up at him now and for a brief moment, Sheldon is taken aback by her quick mood shift.

"What were they doing here anyway?" she asks, digging through her bag and pulling out a notebook.

Sheldon steps back, processing. "It's lunch time."

"Hmm," Penny muses. She looks up at him them, a strange smile on her face. "Your blood pressure is up from this morning."

Sheldon narrows his eyes. "An anomaly, I assure you. Having you burst into my work place like this is the cause, Penny."

"Well, I need the information," she says, packing her things. "You're just going to have to get used to it. I'll just have to keep gathering data until I get enough normal readings, I guess."

Sheldon twitches.

"You intend to keep intruding?" He twists his fingers around the dry-erase marker he still has clutched in one hand. The cap squeaks as it rotates.

"It's for science, Sheldon."

In that instant, Sheldon can see the future. It is filled with endless interruptions by Penny attacking him with thermometers, sphygmomanometer, and any number of other instruments.

"I'll do it myself," he says, placing the marker in its rightful spot.

"Huh?"

"I'll take my temperature and blood pressure for you, Penny."

She shakes her head. "This is my experiment, Sheldon."

"You will never get a baseline if you keep interrupting my routine like this. More importantly, you will be disrupting my work and I cannot tolerate that. I assure you, whatever measurements I take will have much more fidelity than any you will take."

She's quiet for so long that Sheldon begins to worry. He has to consciously keep his hands where they are else they would likely stray to cover his throat and his midsection. He has known Penny long enough to realize his previous statement could possibly garner a highly negative and violent response.

"I'll think about it." And then she's gone.

* * *

In the CalTech cafeteria, there is heated discussion at the lunch table between Howard and Raj. Leonard, however, isn't listening. He's absorbed in his own thoughts.

Conversation ceases when Sheldon appears a few minutes later. The other scientist looks visibly disheveled.

"So…" Wolowitz drawls when Sheldon joins them. "Penny's running an experiment on you, eh?"

"More like ruining my life," Sheldon replies.

Leonard cocks his head to the side and contemplates. If it had been any other man, Leonard is sure he would be driven with a need to dig the spoon in his hand in the other's eye. But this is Sheldon and he is most definitely not enjoying the attention Penny is giving him.

Wolowitz scoffs. "Come on, Sheldon, this is an opportunity of a lifetime. If I had someone as hot as Penny experimenting on me…"

He doesn't finish the thought, but he doesn't need to. Everyone at the table is filling in the blanks with his own fantasy.

Except for Sheldon.

"I assure you whatever fantasies you may be harboring bear no resemblance to reality," Sheldon drones, digging into his lunch. "The constant interruptions are not only going to disrupt my work but likely my bowel movements as well."

Simultaneously, the fantasy bubbles all burst.

"Still," Howard continues, examining a piece of lettuce on his fork, "to be poked and prodded and examined…"

"Dude, you make that sound about as appealing as an alien abduction," Raj pipes in, looking sideways at his friend.

"And about as likely," Leonard finally chimes in.

Wolowitz makes a face and retorts, "Same to you, bro. I don't see Penny knocking on your door to perform whatever inappropriate and invasive experiments on you."

Leonard smirks. "No, but that's sort of the point of the experiment."

Sheldon visibly freezes. "You were informed of the nature of the wager between Penny and I?"

"As a matter of fact, I was," Leonard replies, leaning forward with a smile on his face.

"Do tell," Howard urges, also leaning forward.

"Penny asked me to help, actually," Leonard explains, taking a sip of his soda. "The experiment is to see if she can seduce Sheldon."

"Dude!"

"What?"

Leonard nods, unable to keep the grin off his face. "I know."

Sheldon clears his throat. "Actually, that isn't completely accurate. The experiment in question is to determine if _homo novus_ can be seduced. I have informed Penny that such a claim is preposterous."

"Same thing," Leonard says, waving his hand dismissively. "As you've told us numerous times, you're pretty much the only specimen of _homo novus_."

"I suppose it is valid to draw transitive property parallels to this situation," Sheldon muses. "Still, I hardly think it's fair for Penny to ask for outside help. After all, it isn't as if she is conducting the experiment on more than one specimen."

Leonard thinks for a moment. He isn't sure why but he feels miffed on Penny's behalf. Sure, the experiment is a little strange and Sheldon is a lot annoying, but he can't help but be drawn into the whole silly idea.

Inklings of an argument form in his head and he realizes if he voices them, he's going to regret it. But it's for Penny and, if he's totally honest with himself, Leonard is curious, too.

"Well," Leonard draws out, "since there's only one _homo novus_, that we know of, and this is the first experiment of its kind, it seems reasonable to me that Penny should throw as many resources as she can at it. Besides, I'm the best reference she has outside of you, Sheldon, and you're certainly not going to give her ideas that might be in her best interests."

Sheldon pauses for a moment and Leonard waits for whatever response he may have.

"You have a valid point."

Leonard smiles, genuinely, and the lunch conversation turns to more mundane topics.

* * *

Penny breezes through her shift at The Cheesecake Factory that afternoon, barely registering that any time has passed. It turns out that when her mind is occupied, she operates on auto-pilot and that auto-pilot is really, really good. She tucks her tips, which are actually quite decent this night, into her purse and mentally sets it aside for any other materials she might need for her experiment. Or, maybe, she'll get those shoes she saw on the sale the other day instead. Either is equally important.

She reviews what happened earlier that day at CalTech on the drive home. Penny was both surprised, yet not, that Sheldon hadn't responded to her husky voice and close proximity tactic. That kind of thing always worked on other guys, but Sheldon wasn't just another guy. She would have to think of other ways to draw him out. Maybe he just needs more experiences like that.

When she reaches her apartment, Penny tosses all her stuff aside and reaches for the "Experiments" notebook. She writes a short list of situations to try with Sheldon and indicates those mini-experiments are an attempt to get Sheldon used to physical interactions.

Surely repeated exposure will eventually lead to acceptance, right?

* * *

Later that evening as Leonard and Sheldon are watching TV, Penny invites herself over. She takes up residence on the middle cushion of the couch and attempts to be absorbed in the program. It's a repeat of a Doctor Who episode she didn't really care for, so she instead turns her head to look at Sheldon.

He's doing a valiant job of ignoring her so she keeps staring at him.

A few minutes later, she gets up and gets a drink from the kitchen. When Penny returns to the couch, she deliberately sits a little closer to Sheldon. To his credit, he doesn't leap from his spot but he does squirm closer to the arm rest.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Leonard cover his mouth with his hand. Turning, she swears he's smiling and she raises an eyebrow in question. "What?"

He doesn't answer for a moment but finally replies with, "Oh, nothing." Penny's pretty sure his lips twitch again. Whatever.

Silence falls over the three of them again and, after a while, Penny stretches and leaves her left arm on the back of the couch. Sheldon slowly leans away and Penny can't help but smile. This is exactly what she'd wanted. Sheldon couldn't be paying more attention to her than he is right now, when he is explicitly trying to ignore her.

The episode comes to an end and Penny makes her move. She reaches over and touches the hair at the base of his neck.

Sheldon practically leaps off the couch.

"I'm going to bed!" he exclaims before running, literally running, to his room.

Penny's speechless. She'd expected a reaction but…not that.

Next to her, Leonard chuckles. She turns her gaze on him, raising her eyebrow again.

"Sorry," he says, coughing into his hand.

"Hmm," Penny muses.

Well, she did have other experiments in her book. She'd have to think up contingency plans for when Sheldon…escapes…like he just did. But, first, she has to record her findings.

Without another word, Penny gets up and walks quickly back to her apartment.

* * *

Leonard watches in silence as Penny walks out of their apartment. When the door closes he allows himself a moment to chuckle at what had just happened. Penny wasn't going to get very far if that was her approach. She's known Sheldon long enough to know that he doesn't respond to physical contact very well, especially when he isn't expecting it.

Leonard finds himself thinking about all the ways Penny could approach Sheldon to try to get a response. A part of him wonders if he should be worried that he's thinking about how to go about seducing Sheldon, but then he realizes that Sheldon really is a totally different kind of creature. Leonard can't deny that he's curious how Penny's experiment will go.

The door to the apartment suddenly opens and Penny strides in, Hello Kitty tote bag in hand.

"Forget something?"

"Yeah, sort of," she says and walks right past him, heading for Sheldon's door.

"I don't think you want to do that…"

But she's ignoring him and turning the doorknob. But Sheldon is prepared this time and it's locked.

"Sheldon, open the door," Penny says.

"I'm sleeping," comes a voice, muffled by the door.

"No you're not, your calendar says you're not going to bed for another hour."

"That's just a maximum cutoff time."

Leonard can practically _feel_ Penny roll her eyes.

"I need your nightly temperature and blood pressure," she tries. "For science?"

There's no reply for a long moment and then Sheldon's door opens.

"Fine, but I'm doing it myself," he says.

"Okay, well, here," Penny concedes, handing Sheldon the supplies.

"Good night." And Sheldon's door shuts again.

"Wait!" Penny cries. "I need the results!"

"I'll e-mail them to you," he replies through the door.

"And tomorrow morning?"

"I've sent you a recurring meeting notice for temperature and blood pressure readings three times a day."

"Oh," Penny replies, deflating slightly. "Okay. Um, thanks."

She walks back out of the apartment, not even sparing a glance at Leonard who has been watching the whole exchange. He has never seen Penny this absorbed in something since her obsession with Age of Conan.

As Penny walks out of the apartment for the second time that night, Leonard gets it. He finally gets it.

Penny has always been curious about Sheldon. He saw it the day they met and the way she looked at Sheldon when he was explaining his whiteboard to her. And, miracle of miracles, _Sheldon had responded_ to Penny's presence, something that shocked him then and still does when he sees his roommate react in ways he's never seen before. And these days that only happens when Penny does something that totally blindsides Sheldon's view of the world.

The revelation makes him sad and angry and jealous and irritated and all sorts of other feelings. But, really, he never made a move and what did he expect, that she'd suddenly wake up and figure out she was meant to be with him? Well, yes, but Leonard doesn't really want to admit that to himself so he just blows past that thought.

But...Sheldon? Really?

Leonard hauls himself off the couch and sighs, readjusting his glasses. He's not going to lie to himself (too much), he's curious what Penny will do and if he leaves things between them like they are, she'll shut him out. So he stuffs his pride into the far corner of his mind like he usually does and strolls out of his apartment and across the hall.

He knocks quietly on Penny's door and is half hoping she doesn't answer. Unfortunately things never really seem to go his way, and she does. She immediately has a defensive look on her face and she's leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed.

"What do you want, Leonard?"

He flinches at her flat tone but he plows on, not quite looking at her.

"About your request…"

"Yes?"

He starts to apologize but stops himself. He's decided to be the good guy in this, but that doesn't mean he has to be a doormat.

"Ok," he says. "I'll help."

The transformation of the look on Penny's face from ambivalence to sheer joy is almost..._almost_ worth it. Well, just for the next 5 minutes or so.

She practically jumps on him, then, hugging him and Leonard doesn't feel an ounce of shame for enjoying it.

"But I'm not doing this all _for_ you," he cautions. "This is still your experiment."

"Of course!" she exclaims, clapping her hands in glee. "You'll be a consultant or something. A reference."

"Great," he replies. "Just be sure to put me in your bibliography."

* * *

The next week goes something like this: Penny being tenacious, Sheldon feeling violated, and Leonard being amused.

Penny's never been this focused about anything, even in her aspirations to be an actress. She idly thinks she should throw herself at her career the same way she's throwing herself at Sheldon. She pauses at that thought and draws some parallels. The acting world is about as receptive to her attentions as Sheldon is. This gives her more resolve. After all, if she can seduce Sheldon, getting some acting gigs should be easy.

Right.

First she has to, you know, seduce Sheldon.

She's sprawled on her couch, running through the events of the week.

Penny has learned a lot of what Sheldon doesn't like, but that doesn't really help at the moment. He's forbidden (he actually _said_ "forbidden") her from visiting him at work without his express and previously obtained permission.

When he effectively banned her from taking his temperature and blood pressure thrice daily, she thought he was overreacting. It's been a couple days since that incident, though, and Penny now realizes that maybe she was a little teeny, tiny bit forceful.

Penny sits up abruptly, realization dawning. She's never going to win this bet if she keeps getting cut off like she is.

"Ohhhhhh..." she groans, flopping back down as more insight comes to her.

She's been approaching this all wrong. Penny's almost always been the pursuer or aggressor in the relationship. Guys like it when a girl's in charge. At least, the guys she's normally into. She even went so far as to tell Sheldon she was a "big ole five" when it came to initiating sexual encounters.

But this is Sheldon. _Sheldon_. Penny thought it to herself before she started; it was an absurd idea because Sheldon was so different from any other man-no, person-she had ever met.

He's not going to react the same way most guys do. She knows he doesn't respond well to physical interaction, so flirty touches aren't going to work (which, of course, explains his bolting from the couch the other night when she touched his neck). He doesn't get any sort of conversation that isn't straight up and literal, so it's not like she can throw some innuendo his way and expect him to understand it. Penny's pretty sure Sheldon doesn't understand "coffee" so she's going to have to figure out new ways of flirting with him.

Time to change tactics.

Leonard's returning from work when he gets a text from Penny.

"_Have time to be my reference?_"

He frowns for a moment, then remembers.

"_Sure. Just got home. Now?_"

He diverts his path from his apartment to hers when he gets her reply. He stands just outside Penny's door, apprehensive. With a resigned sigh, he raises his hand and knocks on the door.

Penny greets him with a big smile and Leonard's spirits lift just a little. Sure, he's here to tell her everything she never wanted to know about Sheldon, but at least he gets to spend time with her.

"Hey, Leonard. Thanks for coming," she says, ushering him into her apartment.

"No problem," he replies, taking a seat on the couch. "So..."

Penny sits beside him and clasps her hands. "So," she replies.

"How do you want to do this?" he asks, pushing his glasses back up his nose. He idly thinks he really needs to get a better fitting pair.

"Well, I've been thinking," Penny starts. "I realized earlier today that my normal approach just isn't going to work. Sheldon reacts totally different from any other person on the planet when it comes to regular flirting and stuff."

Despite himself, Leonard grins.

"I was wondering when you'd figure that out," he says, giving her an appreciative glance.

"You knew what I was doing wrong and you didn't tell me?" she asks.

He puts his hands up, placating, "Hey, this is your experiment. I told you I'd be a reference, but like any reference book, you have to come to me."

"I guess you're right," she sighs, flopping back. "I'm just not really sure what to do now. This is unfamiliar territory."

She gives him a meaningful glance.

Leonard's hands move from placating to defense. "Don't look at me," he says. "I don't spend my days thinking of ways to seduce Sheldon."

She's giggling on the floor now and Leonard is chuckling with her. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

"Okay, okay," she says, pulling herself back on the couch. "Well, what kinds of things does Sheldon like?"

Now it's Leonard's turn to level a look at Penny. "I think you know more than you think you do, Penny. You've been around us for a couple years now."

"I thought you were supposed to be my reference," she accuses.

"And I will be," he reassures. "But I think you have all the information you need, really. I'm just here to help you organize it in a way that makes more sense."

"Like how?"

Leonard shrugs. "Like maybe filling in some blanks. Let's start by what you do know. What kinds of things do you think Sheldon likes?"

"Well," she drawls sitting back in the corner of the couch. "There's the easy stuff: comic books, video games, and things to be in perfect order all the time."

Leonard nods. "Okay, we'll talk about those, but what does Sheldon like...well, actually, love the most?"

She arches an eyebrow at him in question.

"Do you remember the first day we met?" he asks, trying another way.

"Yeah, the day you guys tried to go to the sperm bank?"

Of course, she would remember that one mortifying tidbit of an otherwise pretty good day in their lives.

"What had Sheldon said? Something about mastur-"

"Um, yeah," he interrupts. "Let's not talk about that part. I was talking about when you came over."

"Oh, sure," she says. "Um, I asked about the whiteboards. You know, he did seem pretty excited about that."

"Bingo," Leonard said, smiling.

"Oh! Sheldon loves his work."

Leonard nods. "I really think there hasn't been a word or words invented in the English language that could adequately describe what Sheldon feels for his work. It's his life. I'm convinced the fact that he has hobbies is just a fluke or self-preservation by the subconscious of his mind so he doesn't go completely crazy."

Penny grins at him. "Oh, but he's not crazy, his mother had him tested."

"That was years ago," he grins back. "He's never been retested."

Penny giggles for a moment and then she pauses. Leonard can practically see her thinking.

"That explains...a lot, actually," Penny muses.

"Like?" Leonard asks, curious where her mind is going.

"Well, like why he's so strict about schedule and routine and stuff. And, you know, why he didn't want me interrupting him at work. I guess that was kind of selfish of me," she reasons. "I'm just doing this for myself, but that's his work, his life."

"Yeah, he takes it pretty seriously," Leonard says. "He's kind of insufferable and impossible about it, but he's the most capable of any of us, or several of us combined."

"So, everyone else is just jealous."

It wasn't a question and it makes Leonard squirm.

"Let's just say we know he's incredibly smart and he does, too, and he makes sure everyone else knows. That doesn't always make people happy."

"Right," Penny says, flatly, but she lets it drop.

"Well, crap," she says after a moment. "How am I supposed to work with that? I don't know anything about physics and the last time he tried to teach it to me it was a disaster."

"But he did try," Leonard points out.

"Well, yeah, but so what?"

"Penny, probably the next best thing for Sheldon other than _doing_ his work is _sharing_ his work. He would like nothing more than for everyone else to love physics the way he does. It's like...it's like your favorite song. You want everyone to know about it and to love it, too."

"But, Leonard, I don't think I could pretend to be interested in physics," Penny says. "I'm sorry, but I just don't find it all that exciting."

"You don't really have to."

"Huh?"

"Look, Penny, Sheldon can be pretty complicated, but for the most part he's very straightforward. He'd be happy talking physics to an empty room if he had to. Sure, he likes it even more when you interact, but there are probably only a half dozen people on the entire _planet_ that could talk string theory with Sheldon."

"So, what am I supposed to do?" Penny asks, a defeated look on her face.

"I think," Leonard starts, "it's just as simple as respecting Sheldon and what he does."

"But you guys make fun of him all the time."

"We're not trying to flirt with him."

"Oh, true," Penny muses. "I guess it's like me and my acting. I get a lot of flack for it."

"Or the whole deal with the psychic," Leonard adds.

"What's wrong with my psychic?"

"Well, you can't really be serious about..." he trails off when he notices her eyes narrowing. Leonard quickly realizes he's about to step in it right after he'd told her not to do that to Sheldon and thinks that maybe he should take his own advice.

"...the price you have to pay to see her," he recovers. "Surely that adds up?"

"Ugh, tell me about it," she says as she flops backwards again.

She misses the look of relief that crosses Leonard's features.

"Oh, crap!" Penny exclaims, standing quickly. "I'm gonna be late for work! Thanks for the info, Leonard."

"Anytime," he says. "I'll just let myself out."

"Thanks!" she calls over her shoulder as she heads to her bedroom.

Leonard shakes his head as he closes Penny's apartment door. He reflects on the things he said and wonders if maybe he should be a little more respectful of Sheldon himself.

He finds the other man holding a blank whiteboard in the middle of the room when he enters their apartment.

"Hey, Sheldon," he greets, dropping his keys in the bowl.

"Oh, good, Leonard, you're home. Would you take these whiteboards and throw them out?" Sheldon asks, nodding at a stack of 3 whiteboards by the couch.

Leonard glances at them quickly and then pauses. "Sheldon, these are mine."

"Very well, you can at least take them into your room. I need space to continue my equations and your derivative scribblings are taking up a significant amount of real estate."

Leonard gapes, all thoughts of being civilized and respectful flying out of his mind.

"Well?" Sheldon's look is decidedly impatient.

Wordlessly, Leonard grabs his whiteboards and takes them to his room. He's pretty sure if he'd refused, Sheldon would have just thrown them out the window.

* * *

At work that night, Penny's a little more distracted than usual. She doesn't mess up any of her orders, though, which is good. She can't really afford to lose her job or be given less shifts at this point. But she's thinking a lot about what Leonard said and what she's realized and she knows she has to change tactics if she wants to seduce Sheldon.

Oh, and win the bet, of course. That comes first. Right.

The sudden shift in her thoughts makes Penny pause and Bernadette nearly runs into her.

"Sorry, sorry, Bernadette, I just...got distracted."

The other woman grumbles a little and then moves past. Penny's pretty sure she heard the words, "not the first time these days" come out of her mouth and she wonders if she's letting this experiment negatively affect her performance.

_And where the hell did that wording come from?_

Penny's eyes widen in shock and she's pretty sure she's figured out that science changes one's speech patterns, but that's a topic for another time.

She turns her thoughts back to the revelations of the day and Penny decides she's going to take a more passive role, when it comes to Sheldon. She has to draw him to her, she can't go to him because he'll just run and shut her out even more and then she really will lose.

It's the first time she realizes this experiment could change the characteristics of their friendship in a negative way if she doesn't do it right.

And what if she succeeds?

The consequences and possibilities start pouring in and Penny has to sit down.

Is she prepared to deal with the consequences if she does manage to seduce Sheldon?

The thought is mind boggling, but the corollary follows. Is she prepared to deal with the consequences if she doesn't seduce Sheldon or, worse, alienates him in the process?

Penny suddenly realizes she and Sheldon have become integral parts of each other's lives. She's not sure she could easily cut him out of her life, but she's also not sure she's ready to, well, date him.

"Crap," she whispers. "What have I gotten into?"

Throughout the rest of her shift, Penny waffles back and forth between moving forward and conceding defeat. Just when she thinks she's decided to quit, her pride rears up and she decide she can do anything _but_ quit.

Sheldon would be insufferable, for one, but she can't even really make her mind believe that's the reason she doesn't want to give up.

The drive home is slower than normal and her thoughts race as she crawls through the traffic made worse by construction.

On some level, Penny realizes she's always gravitated towards Sheldon. Neither Sheldon nor Leonard are the types of guys she normally goes for but Sheldon is, at least, taller than her. And, if she's completely honest with herself, she did feel an attraction to him that first day. He really does have amazing eyes and arms, though the rest of him may be skinnier than she prefers.

By the time she finally drags herself up to her apartment, Penny has decided. She's going to keep going with the experiment and deal with the consequences when they happen. But, she's determined not to lose and, when she wins, she's determined not to hurt Sheldon. Penny's almost certain the man has never had a significant relationship in his life. She's had more than she'd like to count, always being the one to fall in love quickly, but they've never turned out well. It'd be downright cruel if-when-she manages to seduce Sheldon to just drop him.

No, she'll handle that right. Maybe it'll work. Maybe it won't.

But she's not going to hurt him. At least, not on purpose.

Crap.

* * *

The next day is very...strange...for Sheldon. He's noticed he's almost always on edge, waiting for Penny to burst in on him at every inopportune moment. Sometimes, he catches himself relaxing, but he knows that isn't a good idea because she can strike at any moment.

He spends most of the early evening in anticipation and it's becoming quite a distraction that Penny _hasn't_ done anything, yet. Sheldon is almost tempted to look in on her.

Almost.

Doing so would, of course, make her think she's having some sort of effect on him and he can't have that.

"Hey, Sheldon. You coming to dinner?" Leonard asks as he pulls on his jacket.

"Although it is Anything-Can-Happen Thursday, I'm going to opt to stay in tonight, Leonard."

Leonard shrugs and opens the front door. "Ok. See you."

Again, the feeling of relaxation begins to settle over Sheldon, but he forces his senses to be alert. Penny could come in at any moment, after all.

Instead, his phone pings, and it's a testament to how anxious he is that Sheldon actually jumps off the couch.

It's a text from Penny and, while that isn't necessarily unusual, the composition of it is.

_"Hope I'm not bothering you. Want me to bring home dinner? And, if so, what and for how many?"_

Sheldon blinks.

Penny never offers to get dinner on a non-routine night.

It _is_ Anything-Can-Happen Thursday, though...

_"I'm not feeling particularly spontaneous tonight. Pizza will suffice. It will just be the two of us."_

He ponders for a moment, then sends a follow-up.

_"If that's okay with you."_

Ordinarily, Sheldon wouldn't have cared either way what Penny's response was. But tonight, he finds himself staring at the phone in anticipation. It pings.

_"Pizza it is. See you soon!"_

The next several minutes are still filled with anxiety, though. Sheldon knows Penny is coming over, he just doesn't know when. Every set of footsteps he hears-or doesn't hear-makes him jittery.

He is expecting her to burst through their front door at any moment, when he least expects it. He is expecting her to just appropriate any spot available, even if it isn't the correct one, for the food.

He is expecting everything except for what actually happens.

Three knocks sound on the front door.

Who could be coming over?

The knocks come again and how Sheldon's really alarmed.

The third time they come, a voice accompanies: "Sheldon?"

Sheldon's eyes nearly bulge out of his head. It's Penny. And she's knocked.

She _knocked_. Penny doesn't knock.

"C-coming," he stutters out as he finally makes his feet move.

"Hi, Sheldon," she greets with a smile.

"Hello," he says, slowly, suspicion flitting through his mind.

"I hope it's not too late. Traffic was a bear," Penny explains. "May I come in?"

Sheldon pauses. Did she just-?

"Sheldon?"

"Of course," he says, confusion replacing suspicion as he steps aside to let her in.

"Where would you like me to put the pizza?"

This time, Sheldon is full out gaping.

"Are you unwell?" he blurts out.

It's Penny's turn to look confused and she tilts her head to the side as she looks at him. "What?"

"You don't appear to be...functioning normally."

"Uh, well, I can assure you I'm 'functioning' just fine. I'm just hungry."

He should be happy with that answer. He should just move on. But the fact that there was no strange-possibly sarcastic, he's never quite sure-remark about his words is also another clue that something is different.

"On the kitchen island is fine," he says, finally.

While they're eating, Sheldon's thoughts race between two schools of thought.

1) He should observe Penny and determine if she is or is not suffering some sort of ailment.

2) He should stop caring because clearly this is all part of Penny's nefarious plan to try to make him expend effort and energy paying attention to her.

He doesn't know how he should feel about either option. The fact that options exist indicate he's invested more than he ever meant to in this experiment of hers.

And then there's the fact that she's not trying to poke and prod him with substandard medical equipment or pester him with inane questions or, god forbid, trying to touch him.

In fact, if Sheldon didn't know any better, he would think Penny is deliberately trying to not do any of the things that upset him. The lack of those actions he was sure she would do is, oddly enough, upsetting him.

After dinner, they're watching reruns on BBC America. She's sitting beside him, laptop open. Sheldon is very much aware that Penny is not paying attention to the _Doctor Who_ episode they're supposed to be watching. She's been typing fairly consistently for the past 13 minutes.

"If you're not going to watch, perhaps you'd be more comfortable in your own apartment?" he suggests.

"No, it's okay," she says, not looking at him. "It's good background noise. Besides, I like Amy in this episode."

"Background noise for what?" he asks despite himself.

"The findings for my experiment."

"You're done?" Sheldon is unsurprised to feel hope swell but mystified as to why he feels a pang of regret. He files that piece of information away for later musings.

"No, I'm just writing down the findings to date."

He can't help himself; he leans over to look.

"Hey, no peeking!" Penny exclaims when she notices what he's doing. She clutches the laptop to her chest and leans away.

"Surely your findings cannot hold anything I don't already know. After all, _I_ am the subject."

"Maybe. But you're just going to have to wait until I publish the results."

She's still leaning away from him, but she loosens her grip on the laptop and he can almost make out some of the words. Against his better judgment, Sheldon leans closer. She keeps moving further away from him.

"Sheldon, if you keep pushing like this I'm going to fall over," Penny says.

Her words make him realize just what he's doing. He's leaned over her, nearly on top of her, and very close. Penny's smiling softly up at him and he blinks, unmoving. He frowns slightly, unsure of what to do next.

"Sheldon? Can I get up?"

But he just continues to stare at her, perplexed, more so when she very gently, but firmly, pushes him upright with a single finger on his shoulder.

"Thanks, sweetie," she says, still smiling. And then she goes back to her report.

Sheldon automatically turns to face the TV but he's not watching what's on it. Penny's behavior has been completely foreign to what he expects from her and he doesn't know what to make of it. He's certain, if she had been following her previous behavior patterns, she would have attempted to initiate some sort of physical contact more intimate than the push she just gave him.

He chastises himself for worrying about something so trivial and attempts to go back to the TV show.

But, every once in a while, the apartment's faint draft wafts the smell of Penny's shampoo under his nose and disrupts his attention. The scent is lavender and Sheldon realizes she's using the contents of the second smallest gift basket he'd given her for Christmas.

* * *

End Part 1


	2. Chapter 2

Lately, Penny's exhausted. It takes her a few nights to realize it's because she's too stupid to go to bed when she's actually sleepy.

"Just one more link," she always tells herself as she's combing through Wikipedia.

Because lately, she has several notebooks of subjects and phrases to look up, thanks to Sheldon, and she's completely surprised that she's starting to understand it. Not really the subject matter, but the lure of it all...she's beginning to understand why she should respect Sheldon's work.

She's also beginning to see two things: 1) the appeal to immersing one's self into topics that are so far reaching and in depth that it would take a lifetime to sift through it all and another lifetime to understand it and, more importantly, 2) Sheldon is starting to respond to her.

It's a lot like that first day they met (Penny concedes she has Leonard to thank for reminding her about that). She can see sparks of interest in Sheldon's eyes and it's interest in her because she's respecting him and what he does. But so far, they're just sparks. Penny is willing herself to be patient, though. She's actually proud that she can recognize it.

True to his word, Sheldon has been keeping track of his vitals for her, three times a day. Like most things, Sheldon is extremely consistent so, now that Penny has spent weeks observing him, she can tell, with a glance, when he's exceeding his typical physical parameters.

Plus, he has a pulse point on his neck that beats so much faster when he's agitated.

She's kind of half dozing on the couch when Sheldon's familiar knock sounds on the door.

Yawning loudly, Penny gets up and answers, smiling sleepily up at him.

"Will you be joining us for dinner tonight, Penny?"

Penny's eyebrows raise and she checks her watch. Huh. Dinner time.

"Not tonight, Sheldon," she says, yawning into her hand. "I'm beat. I think I'll just stay in and, you know, pass out on the couch."

"Are you ill?" he asks and she swears she's hallucinating because it sounds like he's concerned.

"No, just very tired. Oh, while you're here, could I get your clarification on something?" she asks, being careful to maintain eye contact with him. Penny's discovered Sheldon responds the best when she gives him her complete and undivided attention.

She is rewarded with a pause while he regards her features and she holds his blue eyed gaze that much longer.

"With what do you require clarification?" he finally asks.

Penny waves him in and digs around for a particular notebook while he seats himself on her couch.

"I wrote some notes the other day and I can't seem to decipher them. You were talking about quarks," Penny says. She's very careful, this time, to keep her eyes on her notes and not look at Sheldon. She doesn't want him to respond just yet and she knows if she looks at him he probably won't stop talking for ages. The urge is very strong to look, though, because she can see him, in her peripheral vision, sit up with interest.

"I must have been writing too quickly, though," she continues, "because I can't seem to make heads or tails of this and, well, since you're the expert..."

She hands him the notebook and it's open to a page with a few items flagged for further research if she could decipher what she wrote. Penny is watching Sheldon intently, now, while he quickly scans over her writing. She's delighted to see his eyebrows raise and a small smile tug at his lips.

"Oh, I recall this conversation," he murmurs. "I see. It's no wonder you're confused. Your handwriting appears to have been rushed that day indeed."

"Yeah, I know," she replies.

"Here," Sheldon says, turning to show Penny the notebook. Their knees are touching and, if she leans just slightly to the left, she would be leaning on him, but Penny resists. "Where it almost looks like 'radon' you really mean 'hadron'."

Penny tilts her head. "It says 'hadron'. If you squint. And tilt your head."

And this is where Penny does get a little smug, though she tries very hard to not show it. Before the experiment started, or even a week ago, Sheldon would have responded with a biting remark about her intelligence being that much lower than his. And he wouldn't have been wrong. After all, almost everyone, and probably everyone in Pasadena, is less intelligent than Sheldon. But the point is he isn't rubbing her face in it. He is responding to her with the same respect and curiosity she is showing him.

"And this word should be 'strange' and not 'strangle'," he continues.

"Ohhhh. That makes more sense," she replies. And she really means it. "I mean, 'strange quark' is still kind of awkward, but 'strangle quark' makes even less sense."

Penny picks up her laptop and leans back on the couch, punching in the new terms for a quick look. She leans her head on the back of the couch, just for a moment, and doesn't even notice when she nods off.

* * *

Sheldon barely manages to catch Penny's laptop before it hits the ground. He looks up in alarm and is surprised to find that she's fallen asleep. She really must have been exhausted.

Gently, he puts her laptop down on the coffee table and regards her sleeping form for a moment.

Penny is changing. True, she would never reach the same level of intelligence as he, but Sheldon recognizes that Penny is attempting to connect with him on-well, near-his level. And he's grateful.

Curiosity gets the better of him and he starts flipping through the rest of the notebook. There are pages upon pages of handwritten notes, all in Penny's girlie, loopy style and all pertaining to any number of things he's said over the last few weeks regarding his work. If it was Leonard or Raj or anyone else in the physics department, Sheldon would accuse them of trying to steal his work and deride them for even attempting to understand what he's doing. But this is Penny. She has no connection to physics or even science, really, and she's taking far better notes than even some of the students he has tutored on occasion over the years.

The most amazing part is that Penny makes no attempt to hide that she's not trying to really understand his work-almost no one actually does-but she is trying to be cognizant of its existence and doing a far more thorough job of it than Sheldon thinks is strictly necessary.

Is she doing all of this research just for the experiment? If it was Sheldon, he would have said "yes" with no hesitation, but Penny is a different matter.

He doesn't know what to make of the situation and, for the moment, Sheldon doesn't even try.

Instead, he places Penny's composition notebook down neatly on the coffee table and is surprised to see at least half a dozen more on various surfaces of the apartment. He stares at her sleeping form again and begins to gain new insight and appreciation for the kind of person Penny is.

"Penny," he speaks, voice soft but audible. She stirs, but doesn't wake, and it's just enough for Sheldon to guide her to a less painful position.

When he's sure she's as comfortable as he can make her without waking her, Sheldon takes one more curious look at his neighbor and quietly leaves.

* * *

Raj is the first one to notice. He's been friends with Sheldon long enough to be familiar with his habits, but it's his time as his co-worker (employee, if he's wants to be perfectly honest), that gives him the insight to notice when Sheldon's behavior is actually changing.

It's nothing major, really, but it's enough to pique Raj's interest.

It's almost as if Sheldon is distracted, somehow. That _never_ happens, especially not at work. But twice this week, Sheldon's been in the middle of working through an equation and then stopped suddenly to scribble something on a Post-It note. And there was even one moment where he flat out said, "I've lost my train of thought."

Raj just gaped at that, but moved on.

Now, though, Raj is pretty sure Sheldon's behavior changes have to do with Penny's ongoing experiment. At first, he'd laughed it off like the rest of the guys, believing that either a) Penny would give up or b) Sheldon would get so fed up he'd make her stop.

To everyone's surprise, neither party gave in. In fact, it almost seemed like Sheldon was more than happy to participate. Well, except for that initial temperature and blood pressure taking thing, that part was still non-negotiable but Penny never questioned it after the initial restrictions were set.

So, Raj had done his own little experiment, but it was really just the observation stage. And what he found both explained a little as to why Sheldon wasn't objecting to Penny's experiment, and astounded him.

When Raj first got to know Sheldon, the taller man's extremely idiosyncratic behavior was so out there that it took him completely by surprise in a way that culture shock never did. He was never really sure why he stayed friends with Sheldon, but Raj had found himself, like most people, adapting his ways to fit into Sheldon's world. It was very, very rare for Sheldon to concede anything and, in the end, it was almost always easier to just give in and move on.

A similar kind of thing happened when Penny entered the picture. She took situations in her own hands, as if the entire world was her rodeo and she was determined to be the champion. She bowled right over him, Howard, and Leonard. When she got to the immovable wall that was Sheldon, though, she didn't really stop. She found other ways, ways that well and truly perplexed Sheldon into acquiescing to her whims way more than he ever had to any of his other friends.

But he was still Sheldon and she was all Penny. They butted heads often and she always called him out when his demands went way beyond persnickety. And then the experiment happened and that's when Raj saw it.

They were adapting to each other.

Back in New Delhi, when he was a young boy, Raj used to have to endure being babysat by his grandmother every day after school when his parents worked the night shift. For the most part, he hated it. His grandmother was very well entrenched in the old ways and she never let him do anything cool. But things changed when his father brought home their first computer and, after his grandmother got over the fact that his father had brought the thing into the house (she'd used some very strange old phrases Raj had never been able to properly translate), Raj showed his grandmother how to use the Internet. More specifically, he showed her where to find old American soap operas and classic Bollywood films she loved but could no longer watch because she'd worn out the VHS tapes and no one sold them anymore.

They'd come to an unspoken understanding, then, and Raj and his grandmother began to appreciate each other more. Years later, just before he'd left for America, she'd told him that he would need to forge new relationships.

"Rajesh," she'd said. "Relationships are about compromise. Remember that. For two people to have a relationship, whether it is family, friendship, or something romantic, there must be give and take on both sides."

Unfortunately, he hasn't really had an opportunity to exercise the romantic side of relationships, but with the guys, he's managed to forge strong friendships. Except with Sheldon. For a long time, Raj believed Sheldon never gave anything to their friendship. It wasn't until his visa was in danger of being revoked that Raj finally understood. Sheldon had given him three things that were very precious to Sheldon, but taken for granted by others: his time, his mind, and his consideration.

With Penny, Raj realizes he's in the unique position of watching both Penny and Sheldon negotiate the give and take necessary to have a meaningful relationship. She already has Sheldon's time because she pretty much takes it. His mind she doesn't really need specifically, but she's learning to respect it. His consideration she actually earned with the Leonard Nimoy napkin.

But there's a new element in the Penny and Sheldon paradigm and Raj is pretty sure neither party realizes it, yet. Raj knows physics is the love of Sheldon's life and everything else is secondary. If there is one constant in Sheldon's world, it's that his focus is always on the physics. Until now.

Penny is about to receive the one thing none of them have ever gotten from Sheldon willingly: his attention.

* * *

The next day at work, Penny's in the middle of scribbling notes between tables when Bernadette catches her.

"What are you doing?" the shorter woman asks.

"Oh, nothing," Penny blushes, stuffing her composition notebook back in her locker.

She manages to squeeze past Bernadette and attend to her tables, but her respite is short-lived. They hit a lull in the day and Bernadette casually corners Penny.

"So."

"So," Penny replies, trying not to fidget. It isn't as if she's doing anything wrong.

"You've been different, lately, Penny. What's going on and why do you keep dashing to your locker to write in a notebook?"

"Is it that obvious?" she asks with a grimace.

"Not really," Bernadette admits. "But I'm curious. You used to be obsessive about the gossip magazines or texting someone but these days..."

Penny considers for a moment and then decides it won't hurt to have another opinion to go to, especially a female one. So, she launches into a highly abbreviated description of what she's doing.

When she's done, Bernadette doesn't say anything. Penny starts to wring her hands and her mind creates different responses.

A) Bernadette bursts out laughing and completely humiliates her.

B) Bernadette belittles her experiment and humiliates her.

C) Bernadette says something derogatory about Sheldon (because, face it, _everyone_ says something derogatory about Sheldon) and, in the end, humiliates her.

The answer ends up being D) none of the above, and Penny is delightfully surprised.

"Huh," Bernadette finally says. "That's kind of neat."

"You don't think it's weird?" she asks, tentative.

"No, not really," the other woman says. "It's sort of like a psychological experiment. It sounds like this Sheldon guy-wait, is he Tuesday hamburger guy?"

Penny nods.

"Oh! Okay. That makes way more sense."

"It does?"

"Sure," Bernadette answers. "I've seen him a few times. Everyone else thinks he's crazy but he's just very specific. He's also very consistent. Like I was saying, it sounds like he's very set in his ways and you're just trying to figure out how to dislodge him. Are you sure you don't secretly have a thing for him?"

Two weeks ago, Penny would have immediately burst out laughing and fervently denied any interest in Sheldon. Right now, she's pretty sure she doesn't have an interest in Sheldon, at least not romantically, but it isn't really funny. She's come to realize, much like Bernadette, but taking much longer to understand it, the kind of man Sheldon really is. And, truth be told, he isn't a bad kind of man to know. Sure, Sheldon is peculiar, but Bernadette is right, he is very consistent. Penny might go so far as to say stable.

"No, no," Penny says, calm. "I really am curious to see if I can evoke, you know, normal responses from him. I'm surprised you picked up on Sheldon's character so quickly. "

Bernadette shrugs, her curly hair bouncing. "I read people well," she says. "Plus, I've done my fair share of experiments."

"You have?" Penny asks, clearly surprised. She then immediately feels guilty for never really having taken the chance to get to know Bernadette even a little.

"I'm a microbiology graduate student," Bernadette explains. "Micro-organisms aren't nearly as expressive as humans, but they have their traits if you observe them. My powers of observation have pretty much increased by orders of magnitude, so I pick up on things in people pretty quickly, too."

Penny blinks, taking in Bernadette's words. It's clear the other woman is a smart cookie. Not Sheldon smart-almost _no one_ is Sheldon smart-but maybe Leonard smart...and less condescending.

"Would you be willing to help?"

"In your experiment?" Bernadette asks, surprised.

"Yeah. I mean, as someone to bounce ideas off of, and stuff," Penny explains. "Other than the guys, I don't really know many science types."

"Well, like what kind of ideas?"

Penny shrugs this time. "I don't know. What should I try?"

The conversation continues in spurts throughout the rest of the shift and Bernadette ends up following Penny home to continue the conversation.

They meet Howard and Leonard in the lobby. The moment Howard turns around is the exact moment Penny remembers Bernadette is another female and she just barely steps in front of the shorter woman before the full force of Howard's leer can reach her. She attempts to give Howard a significant "Don't be creepy" look which, of course, he ignores.

"Well, what do we have here?" he asks, sauntering towards them, hips first.

"I'm Bernadette."

Penny sends up a silent prayer that lightning will strike Howard before he's too embarrassing.

"And I'm-"

Leonard interjects, stepping in front of Howard. "I'm Leonard and this is Howard."

"Nice to meet you," Bernadette says, shaking both their hands.

Penny virtually yanks the other woman back when it's clear Howard's about to try some really bad pickup line while holding Bernadette's hand. He frowns, but stays blissfully silent.

"What are you guys up to?" Penny asks, voice too loud and too fast.

"Just got home," Leonard says, ushering them up the stairs. "It's 'Anything Can Happen Thursday' so we just got back from dinner. Sheldon didn't feel like being spontaneous so he and Raj ordered in."

"Oh. Bernadette and I just got off shift," Penny offers.

"Oh, you know each other from work?" Leonard asks, eyeing the shorter woman.

"Mmhmm," Bernadette replies. "I work there part time to pay for grad school."

"You're in grad school, huh? For what?"

Howard is unusually quiet, but Penny doesn't think about it. She's pretty sure he's staring at their backsides since he's behind them, but as long as he's only looking...

"Microbiology," Bernadette replies.

"Huh, that's pretty interesting."

"What do you do?"

"I'm an experimental physicist at CalTech," Leonard answers.

"Oh! That sounds interesting, too. I was just telling Penny that experiments are the best part of science..."

Bernadette and Leonard continue their conversation on the way up the stairs and Penny doesn't really mind. She's actually observing how Bernadette approaches Leonard. He's not as peculiar as Sheldon, but maybe she'll learn something.

As the conversation continues, Penny realizes she feels a little jealous. On the one hand, it's kind of nice not having Leonard pay so much attention to her-she's known for a long time he's had a crush on her but she never had the heart to let him down so she's focused on not leading him on-but she's also not really used to any other woman paying the guys any attention (she refuses to acknowledge the Alicia incident).

Beside her, Howard makes an irritated noise. She tries to pay him no mind, but she can practically feel waves of jealous indignation emanating from him. Thankfully, they reach their floor and Penny is able to pull Bernadette away from the guys and into her apartment before either have a chance to invite them over.

"What was up with that other guy?" Bernadette asks when they're in the privacy of Penny's apartment.

"Who, Howard? He's just...Howard."

Bernadette raises an eyebrow.

"Really, he's harmless. He talks all big and struts his non-existent stuff, but he's harmless."

Bernadette shrugs and takes a seat on the couch, dislodging a notebook along the way.

"You have...a lot of notebooks," she observes.

"Yeah," Penny replies, putting the one from her work bag on the table. "Keeping up with Sheldon is pretty exhausting."

"And exhaustive," Bernadette murmurs as she flips through a notebook, marveling at the wall of text that greets her.

"If only my classes had been half as interesting as Sheldon," Penny sighs as she sits down and flexes her tired feet.

She looks up when Bernadette doesn't make a remark and is greeted with what Penny can only describe as a poignant look.

"What?"

"Are you _sure_ you don't have a thing for Sheldon? This is a lot of notes for a bet."

"Well," Penny hedges. "Okay, so, maybe I'm at least a tiny bit interested. I mean, how can I _not_ be after spending all this time with him and deliberately knowing his business?"

Bernadette gives her another look, this time a little more sympathetic.

"Are you sure you can handle the outcome, Penny?"

And Penny seems to shrink even further into the couch.

"To be perfectly honest, I don't know. I realized this...flaw...in my plan the other day and I started questioning what I was doing. Part of me wants to flee," she admits.

"Well, as long as you know what the end result could be," Bernadette says. "What kinds of things have you been thinking about as ways to woo Sheldon?"

Penny sits upright. "What?"

"What?" Bernadette repeats, confused.

"What was that bit about wooing Sheldon?"

"Uh, well, that's what you're doing, right?"

Penny stares, realization starting to dawn.

"Penny, what did you think you were doing when you decided to seduce Sheldon?"

"I...I'm not really sure," she says as she slowly falls back to the couch. "I thought I was just, you know, finding things that would interest Sheldon and...oh, crap."

She throws an arm over her face as the full ramifications of her actions really start to drive home.

"I _am_ wooing Sheldon, aren't I? Especially since I'm doing this the 'scientific' way."

Bernadette gives her a sideways look she can see from under her arm. "That's sort of the entire point of the experiment, Penny."

"Hey, I didn't really think it through at first, okay? It was just, you know, a stupid bet."

Bernadette shakes her head and rises, heading for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"You don't need my help, Penny. You already know what to do," Bernadette explains. "Besides, it's getting late and my mother will likely call soon to check up on me."

Penny smiles as the other woman rolls her eyes.

"Sorry I dragged you over here," she says, getting up to show her friend out.

"It's no big deal, I was curious to see what you were up to but, really, you don't need my help."

As Penny opens the door, they spy Howard across the hall. Luckily, he's turned away from them so he doesn't see as Bernadette makes a funny face. Leonard sees, though, and grins conspiratorially.

"Okay, Ma!" Howard yells into his phone. "I'll be home soon!"

He hangs up the phone and sighs, shoulders drooping.

"Mothers," he mutters. "Sometimes you just want to kill them."

"But you gotta love them?" Leonard asks.

"No, no," Howard answers. "I just really want to kill her most of the time."

"Your mother is overbearing, too, huh? I'm just glad mine hasn't called, yet," Bernadette says.

And then her phone beeps.

"Oh, look, not a call, but a text," Bernadette murmurs.

Penny watches as the strangest moment happens. Bernadette looks up and her eyes meet Howard's and, for the first time since she's met him, Howard's expression is genuine. She can almost hear an audible click between him and Bernadette.

"You live at home, too, eh?" Howard says as the pair head down the steps, Penny and Leonard forgotten.

"Yeah, it cuts down on costs while I go through grad school..."

"Did we just...witness a moment?" Penny asks.

Leonard shrugs. "I think so. At least this time the moment's with someone Howard's height."

They say their own goodnights and Penny shuts her door, thinking about what just happened. Bernadette and Howard just had a significant moment. Would she ever have one with Sheldon?

It takes her a moment to realize she already had one, that first day they met at his whiteboard. It's just that at the time, Sheldon wasn't adept at social interactions to go anywhere with it and she was still hurting over Kurt to really do anything about it. Penny bites her lip and worries maybe it's too late for her and Sheldon.

She immediately berates herself for the thought.

"I gotta stay optimistic," she says to herself.

After all, she said she was determined to win. Penny would just have to make do on the moment she shared with Sheldon years ago or make a new one.

* * *

It isn't until Raj mentions it that Howard also notices something is changing with Sheldon. He's just as abrasive as he always is to them, but his behavior towards Penny has...shifted...a little bit.

Howard is pretty sure he never would have picked up on it, even with Raj's words, if he hadn't met Bernadette and formed a connection with her. He's gone on a couple real dates with her, now, and he's realizing the benefits of an exclusive relationship. Not that what he has with Bernadette is close to being serious or even a real relationship, but the fact that he's been out alone with her more than once and on purpose has given him hope.

Sure, his eyes still stray to other women, but he's more aware that Bernadette is (probably) watching him, too, so the words that normally would follow the sight of a pretty lady don't come out as much anymore, even when he's not with Bernadette.

And it's that parallel he draws with Sheldon, although not really directly. It's both a parallel and an opposite. Maybe more of a tangent. Trigonometry aside, Sheldon's never given a woman the time of day other than literally. Many have thrown themselves at him, but he's never spared a thought cycle out of the ordinary about it.

Now, Howard notices that Sheldon pays more attention to Penny than he ever used to. At first, Howard thought Sheldon was just trying to make sure Penny wasn't going to spring some weird test on him or something and maybe in the beginning it had been like that. But lately, as he spends more time with Bernadette and his eyes wander less, he wonders if maybe Sheldon is growing to prefer Penny's company much like he's learning to prefer Bernadette's.

It's a perfectly logical and human kind of reaction and one that Howard is more than happy to follow through like a normal human being. He doesn't really apply it to Sheldon outside of that initial thought, though, because really, Sheldon is far from a normal human being. It was probably just Sheldon's way of evolving past the need of preferred human relations into whatever it is crazy super genius people do.

* * *

Leonard's in his lab when Howard finds him.

"Hey, Howard," he greets when he notices him. "What's up?"

"Have you noticed anything different about Sheldon?"

Leonard looks up and tilts his head, thinking. "Not particularly. How do you mean?"

Howard fidgets a little. "I don't know how to describe it. He's just...different. Mostly towards Penny."

And then Leonard understands. "Oh! You mean the experiment?"

"I guess," Howard shrugs.

In a moment of clarity, Leonard realizes that he has been processing Sheldon's gradual shift but not really acknowledging it. But, now that Howard's mentioned it, he can't stop his brain from putting it in front of him.

"Yeah, a little," Leonard admits.

"Oh, good, I'm not the only one," Howard exhales in a big rush.

"I think he's changing. I never thought it would happen, but it seems like Penny's experiment is actually affecting him."

"It's weird, right?" Howard asks as if he's unsure.

Leonard nods. "Just a little."

Howard's phone rings, then, and he pulls it out. "Gotta go, bro. Bernadette."

"See ya," Leonard calls to Howard's quickly retreating form.

And now he's left with his own thoughts.

Ever since Penny's experiment began, Leonard's been uneasy. After all, he had agreed to help her seduce Sheldon when he'd rather Penny seduced him or the other way around.

But now, as the weeks have gone by and Penny's actions are having an effect on his previously immovable roommate, Leonard feels different. He feels, oddly, free.

It's as if all his pent up frustration and yearning for Penny have been replaced by...contentment. Leonard realizes that he's come to terms with Penny and her preference for Sheldon and is surprised to find that he's not a bitter, angry little man like he thought he'd be. Truth be told, even just a few weeks ago he was very nearly that man, but he's grown a little, moved past the petty little things that have kept him down.

He's still smiling at the revelation when Leslie Winkle walks into the lab.

"Hey, Leonard," she calls, giving him a little wink.

Leonard is immediately on his guard. He knows that look, has been on the receiving end of it before and fallen for it.

"Hey...Leslie."

"So," she says, drawing out the word as she approaches him. "Doing anything tonight?"

Leonard takes a moment to think, really think, and he realizes he's very grateful for the freedom he now feels. He's not going down this trap again, at least not on Leslie's terms.

"As a matter of fact, yes," he says, with confidence.

Leonard grabs his bag and, after making sure all his lab equipment is off, strides right out of the room without another word or look for Leslie Winkle.

* * *

Penny stares at her laptop and the document that's open. She's been continually writing her findings and what she's been doing and she's quite surprised at how much information she's gathered. In fact, she's actually pretty much done with her project and her paper is just a conclusion away from being ready for "publication." Truth be told, the only person she's going to allow to read the thing is Sheldon and a hard copy at that.

But it's the conclusion that has her worried. She'd gone into the bet pretty much hell bent on winning but, because Penny went into the project headfirst, she'd neglected to see the one major flaw in her experiment.

Sighing, she sits back and stares up at the ceiling.

"Screw it," she mutters.

Penny turns back to her paper and continues writing. The conclusion might cost her the bet but she has to do this objectively...scientifically.

When she's done, she brings up Sheldon's calendar and schedules a time to present her findings. Penny deliberately picks an Anything-Can-Happen Thursday during dinner time when the other guys will probably be out. And, if they're not, she'll reschedule.

Her e-mail pings and she's unsurprised to find a meeting acceptance from Sheldon. Smiling, Penny gives her research another once-over and continues with the finishing touches on the conclusion. If she's going to do this right, the paper has to be perfect.

* * *

Anything-Can-Happen Thursday comes way faster than Penny wants but she's standing in her apartment, waiting for the appointed hour. She's just finished putting her paper together in a three-ring binder, the pages encased in sheet protectors. She's pretty sure she'll rip a page or all when she's presenting them to Sheldon so she needs to make sure that won't happen.

Half an hour earlier, as she paced her apartment, Penny heard the other guys leave and the second hand on her watch seemed to tick ever ominously forward.

Finally, it's time.

Penny stands and smooths her skirt. She's dressed for the occasion, the same suit she wore to traffic court. She grabs the binder and heads across the hall.

The door opens before her third knock can finish and she's looking up into Sheldon's expectant face.

"Hello, Sheldon."

"Hello, Penny."

They stare for a moment and it's not awkward at all. There's a whole lot of expectation, though, and the tension wavers slightly as Sheldon steps aside to let Penny into the apartment.

He takes his place in his Spot, but Penny remains standing.

"So, how do you want to do this?" she asks. She's proud her voice doesn't waver even though she's a ball of nerves on the inside.

"The project is yours, so I leave it up to you to present your findings in whatever manner is appropriate," he replies.

Penny takes a deep breath and closes her eyes for a brief moment. She thinks about this like an audition, a reading.

"Well," she begins, opening her binder. "As you know, for the past several weeks, I've been conducting an experiment to answer the question as to whether or not _homo novus_ can be seduced using the only means available to _homo sapiens_."

Penny talks for a long time, essentially reading from her paper and showing Sheldon various graphs and charts she's put together with the data she's gathered. He is, thankfully, quiet and doesn't interrupt her. She realizes, as she's speaking, that this is exactly how it should be. The subject matter might be unorthodox, but this is_science_.

She gains confidence as she talks and all too soon, the ever important conclusion is upon her.

* * *

Sheldon is completely immersed in Penny's presentation. He's fascinated by the detachment she's managed to take to the subject matter given the parties involved. He'd thought for sure she wouldn't be able to make the objective separation necessary to make the research seem credible. He was sure she'd make it personal.

But, if there's one thing Sheldon has learned in the past several weeks, it's that Penny is a professional. When she wants to be. And he can tell she very much wants to be. She is taking this very seriously and Sheldon completely understands and treats this presentation with all the respect Penny has earned.

"In conclusion," she says, and Sheldon sits up. This is the part he's most interested to hear.

"The physical evidence, such as an elevation in body temperature and heart rate in _homo novus_ when in close proximity to _homo sapiens_ under specific conditions, clearly indicates that _homo novus_ is, indeed, susceptible to seduction."

Penny pauses and Sheldon is relatively sure she's waiting for him to make a comment. But he's treating this like a proper presentation and will hold his comments to the end. He nods his head to her to continue.

"However, prior to the commencement of this project," she continues, "I, as the primary researcher, failed to realize there is a significant flaw in the subject matter and hypothesis. That is, there is no proven scientific method of measuring the effectiveness of seduction. The factors involved, which include but are not limited to emotion and attraction, are not strictly measurable and are, for the most part, subjective. Thus, though a great deal of research has been conducted and an equally significant amount of data gathered, I am forced to concede that I cannot, in the spirit of science, draw any official conclusion."

Penny carefully closes her notebook and sits down in the armchair.

The room is completely silent and Sheldon realizes it's his turn to speak.

For the first time in a very, very long time, Sheldon doesn't know what to say. He'd had a number of comments to make during the course of Penny's presentation but given the conclusion, he doesn't know if they apply anymore.

In effect, Penny is admitting defeat because she cannot, scientifically, prove that _homo novus_ can be seduced.

It should make him happy. He should gloat that he has won.

But, while Penny discovered the general flaw in the project as a whole, Sheldon has discovered a flaw in the gathering of empirical evidence.

Only Sheldon, as the subject, can shed light on whether or not _homo novus_ was seduced. He cannot refute the physical evidence; he felt them after all. But only he knows his emotional state, his level of attraction, all those items that have no method of measurement.

It's up to him to validate or negate Penny's project.

He looks over at her and it's clear that she is waiting for him to respond. The project started as a bet and while the both of them very much want to win, the overriding factor is this is also science.

Sheldon sits up and places his hands on his knees. He looks at his hands for a long moment and thinks about the past several weeks. He cannot deny that there has been a shift in the relationship between them as a direct result of the project.

He looks up again and she has what he believes is a pensive look on her face. Sheldon opens his mouth and then closes it. Taking a deep breath, he finally decides on the best course of action.

Slowly, deliberately, Sheldon stands.

And then sits back down on the center cushion of the couch.

* * *

Penny's jaw drops open.

"What?" she manages.

"I believe my actions are quite clear," Sheldon replies.

"But, I just said I couldn't scientifically prove that I seduced you."

"_Homo novus_," he corrects.

"Yeah."

Sheldon nods and looks down at his hands again. "While I agree with the assessment, I've come to realize the one piece of data you could not gather was what I as _homo novus_ was actually experiencing."

"Well, no, I couldn't really ask you, Sheldon."

"Indeed."

Penny thinks for a moment and then speaks, "I guess the project was flawed from all sides, then."

"It appears so, but I am a scientist, Penny, and given the level of commitment from you and the amount of effort you put into it, I cannot, in good conscience, deny that you did have an effect. Thus, your hypothesis was correct and the Spot is yours for a week."

Penny breaks out into a huge grin and stands up, moving towards the couch.

"I promise I'll take good care of it, Sheldon," she says before carefully sitting down.

She can feel his eyes on her and she turns to look at him. They speak no words. Slowly, the high of Sheldon's defeat wears off and his words finally sink in.

"So, I seduced you, huh?"

Sheldon looks away suddenly and she's surprised to see him blush. On instinct, Penny raises her arm to put it around him but she stops. She's not throwing her research away now that the project is over. She'd promised herself she'd do this right.

"So, what's next?" she asks, voice soft.

He whips around to look at her, surprise in his eyes.

"I was given to believe that once the experiment concluded, there would be no more need for interaction."

She grimaces at the word "need" but moves on.

"Sheldon, something I didn't really think about when we started this whole thing was what would happen with either result. It was...naive of me to believe we could conclude an experiment based on human emotions and expect to continue on the way we used to."

"I admit I was not prepared to deal with the effects of your experiment," he says, then smiles. "I didn't expect you to be successful."

She grins back at him. "I know. But, now that I have..."

"You are much more experienced at this than I, Penny."

Penny laughs, then, and turns away for a moment. She doesn't know why she thought Sheldon would just understand. Half the time, even she doesn't understand.

"Sheldon, relationships take two people."

"Of course."

"It doesn't work if both parties aren't...how do I word this...fully involved," she tries.

He tilts his head as if he's processing new information.

"Sheldon, if you don't want to do this, we don't have to. It's your choice, too."

"Oh," he says, but then he's quiet again.

Penny doesn't say anything, though. She's already committed to continuing this relationship, no matter where it goes. Now it's his turn.

After a few long minutes, Sheldon turns back to her.

"I propose another experiment," he says.

Penny frowns, confused. "What?"

"I would like to conduct an experiment to determine if it is possible for _homo novus_ to successfully carry out a relationship with _homo sapiens_."

Penny blinks, processing Sheldon's words. Did he just...? She smiles broadly.

"Dr. Sheldon Cooper, are you asking me out?"

Sheldon shifts his weight. "Oh, lord. This cushion is wholly inadequate."

Penny's grinning now and she waits for Sheldon to look at her again. When he does, she sees something she's never seen before in his eyes: insecurity. She has to consciously stop herself from reaching out to physically comfort him.

"I think I would like to participate in that experiment," she answers.

"Good," Sheldon says, smiling in return. "Good."

* * *

End


End file.
